War of Shadows Read Online Free PDF Page B

“I don’t know whether he’s trying to prove something to you, or outdo you, or get himself killed. But he’s worse when I try to keep him with the rest of the troops. Letting him go off on patrol—and now, spying—seemed to be the only way to handle him, short of tying him up and putting him in Glenreith’s dungeon.”
    “Maybe you should reconsider,” Piran muttered.
    Sudden light-headedness made Blaine stagger. From outside the castle came a resounding explosion that made the glass in the windows rattle. “What in Raka is going on?” Niklas muttered, rushing with Piran to look out the window in the direction of the blast.
    Kestel hung back, giving Blaine a worried look. “Are you all right?” she asked quietly.
    “I’m fine,” he said, waving off her concern, although he was far from certain. As soon as he knew he could move without falling over, he joined the others at the window. Smoke wasrising from the large tent the mages had claimed as their workspace.
    “Looks like it was a good idea to keep the mages out of the castle while they try out the artifacts we brought back,” Piran remarked.
    “Let’s hope no one died,” Niklas said.
    Kestel still eyed Blaine skeptically. He was reluctant to admit it, but the vertigo worried him. So far, he had not blacked out, but he felt as if his knees might buckle.
What if it happens in battle?
he wondered.
    “We’d better go see what happened,” Niklas said with a sigh of resignation. “Come on, Piran. Let’s find out what they’ve blown up this time.” He looked toward Blaine. “We’ll give you a report once we know what’s going on.”
    Kestel waited until the others had gone before she folded her arms across her chest and gave Blaine a level stare. “What’s wrong? You looked like you were going to fall over.”
    Blaine grimaced and turned back toward the window. “It
felt
like I was going to fall over. And I don’t know why.”
    Kestel stepped up behind him and laid a hand on his arm. “How long has it been like this?”
    He sighed. “Since Valshoa. Since we brought the magic back.”
    “Maybe Niklas’s battle healer could help,” she suggested.
    Blaine reached over to take her hand and drew her closer to him. “I’ve already had Ordel check me over, after we got back from Valshoa.” He shook his head. “Nothing. Except that he thought I seemed especially tired and ‘run-down’ was his term. Made it sound like I hadn’t been eating vegetables or something.”
    Kestel chuckled. “Maybe you need to eat more herring.”
    Blaine glared at her. “Not if I can help it.” After his timein Edgeland, manning the miserable herring boats that supplied the motherland with salted, pickled, and dried fish, he had little desire to eat herring ever again.
    “There has to be a reason why it’s happening,” Kestel pressed. She thought for a moment. “Just now, you looked unsteady an instant before the explosion.”
    Blaine nodded. “And the same thing happened when Xaffert used the mirror.”
    He had a suspicion of what was causing the problem, but he desperately wished to be proven wrong.
    “Both times there was strong magic,” Kestel said.
    “That occurred to me, too,” Blaine admitted.
    “You brought magic back under human control at Valshoa,” Kestel said, speaking slowly as she put the thoughts together. “But the last time, thirteen Lords of the Blood anchored the magic. This time, just one.”
    Blaine nodded again, keeping his gaze focused on the hectic activity as soldiers and healers bustled around the mages’ tent. “But if that’s the case, how can I fix it?” he asked. “The magic that bound the old Lords of the Blood came down through the eldest son. Except for me, all the others either died in the Cataclysm or the bloodlines died out long ago.” He grimaced. “Well, there’s the Wraith Lord, but he’s a wraith so he can’t really help.”
    “Has the light-headedness changed at all?”
    Blaine thought for a